Contents

The Siege

The Orcs that survived the slaughter at Dagorlad were surrounded in Barad-dûr, Sauron's dark stronghold. There, the forces of Gil-galad, Elendil and Thranduil laid siege to the tower, but could not breach its gates.

Sauron put together a strong defence with a seemingly unexhaustible supply of projectile and sorties, which inflicted heavy casualties on the Elves and Men. In S.A. 3440, Anárion's helmet was crushed by a rock thrown down on him, and he died instantly.

A year later, however, Sauron went out with a sortie himself, and broke the leaguer. He came to Mount Doom, where the two kings, Gil-galad and Elendil, fought with him. Narsil, Elendil's sword, broke in two beneath him as he fell. Gil-galad was burned by the heat. But Sauron also fell, and Isildur cut The One Ring from his finger with what was left of Narsil. As Gil-galad's heralds Círdan and Elrond came up, they advised Isildur to destroy the Ring by throwing it in the fires of Mount Doom. But Isildur said:

This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I who dealt the Enemy his death-blow?1

Isildur remained in Minas Tirith some time2. When he did return North, he and his sons were ambushed3. The Ring was lost in the tumult.

With the death of Gil-galad, the Noldor were without a King as he left no heir. Elrond and Círdan returned to Lindon.

Since the Ring was not unmade, Sauron was not completely destroyed: his spirit was able to live on. In the Third Age, he reassumed physical shape, and regained most of his old realm and allies.

Portrayal in adaptations

In Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, the entire venture of the Last Alliance was combined into a short silhouette play, in which Isildur cut the Ring off Sauron's hand in battle, not when Sauron was already conquered.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring also compresses the Battle of Dagorlad, the Siege, and the final duel into one, and for convenience reasons, places them all at Mount Doom, in a prologue similar to that of Ralph Bakshi. The main perspective of the entire prologue, One Ring to rule them All, lies with Elrond. The death of Gil-galad is not mentioned, Anárion is cut completely, and the deaths of Elendil and Sauron are rewritten.
After coming forth, Sauron wreaks havoc among the Elves and Men, and a blow from his mace throws Elendil against the mountainside, killing him. Isildur tries to take up Narsil, but it breaks as Sauron steps on it. In a desperate strike, Isildur slashes the Ring, and four fingers, from Sauron's hand. Sauron's body comes to nothing.

In a later scene, aptly named The Fate of the Ring, Elrond tells Gandalf of the final debate with Isildur, inside Mount Doom. Círdan is not present, and Isildur refuses by simply saying "No".